FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska — Nearly 700 Soldiers at Fort Wainwright put their physical endurance, technical proficiency and mastery of fundamental Soldier tasks to the test during Expert Infantryman (EIB) and Expert Soldier (ESB) training and testing Aug. 10-28.
Soldiers conducted two weeks of train-up Aug. 10-22 before beginning formal testing Aug. 24-28.
Collectively known as E2B, the event brings together testing for the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Expert Soldier Badge. Candidates are evaluated on individual tasks designed to test their ability to perform critical Soldier skills to standard.
“For generations, Soldiers have understood that our profession ultimately comes down to the mastery of relatively simple things,” said Col. Benjamin Jackman, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division. “Move. Shoot. Communicate. Treat casualties. Navigate. Maintain your equipment. Understand your weapons.”
Candidates are evaluated across demanding weapons, medical and patrol tasks in addition to physical fitness and land navigation requirements. Each event requires Soldiers to demonstrate not simply familiarity with a task, but the ability to execute it precisely to Army standards while under pressure.
Of the nearly 700 Soldiers who began testing, just over 200 successfully completed the requirements to earn one of the Army’s expert badges, roughly one-third of the original field. Approximately 60 of those badge recipients completed their respective testing without receiving a single no-go, demonstrating proficiency across every evaluated task on their first attempt. Depending on the badge earned, those Soldiers receive special recognition as “True Blue” for EIB or “Perfect Edge” for ESB.
While those results demonstrate the demanding nature of E2B, earning a badge is only part of the event’s value to the formation.
Every training iteration and testing lane provides Soldiers an opportunity to refine the individual skills required of their profession. Candidates return to their squads, sections and platoons with greater confidence and technical proficiency, bringing that expertise back to the Soldiers around them.
That emphasis on individual mastery directly supports the 11th Airborne Division’s focus on developing Soldiers who are experts in the fundamentals.
At Fort Wainwright, those fundamentals take on added importance. Extreme cold, snow, limited daylight, difficult terrain and vast distances compound the challenges Soldiers and their equipment face in the Arctic.
Jackman told the newly badged Soldiers that those fundamentals matter most when conditions are at their worst.
“At those moments, battles are very often decided by people who can continue doing ordinary things extraordinarily well under tough and terrible circumstances,” Jackman said. “And that is why we care about expertise. And here in the Arctic, in the most unforgiving environment on the planet, this is especially important.”
E2B reinforces a culture in which expertise is expected rather than exceptional.
Candidates spend weeks preparing, receiving instruction and repeatedly practicing the tasks they are ultimately required to perform to standard. That process extends the value of E2B beyond the Soldiers who earn a badge. Participants return to their formations with additional training, experience and knowledge they can share with their teammates.
The badge itself also carries an expectation beyond the moment it is awarded.
“When another Soldier sees that musket or that bayonet on your chest, it tells them something about you,” Jackman said. “It tells them that you know your craft. Make sure they’re right. That’s the responsibility that comes with the badge.”
At Fort Wainwright, E2B provides another opportunity to sharpen those fundamentals, develop experts and strengthen the readiness and lethality of America’s Arctic Angels.